ALBUM REVIEW: ROYKSOPP – JUNIOR

Music | Johnny | March 25, 2009

Every album from Royksopp, including their latest album, Junior, is something to treasure.
After all, we wait 4 years for every new album.

Their debut Melody AM in (2001) , The Understanding in (2005) and Junior (2009).

The duo behind Royksopp, Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland are extremely involved in their own work and they practically do everything themselves, from writing, producing, mixing and of course performing. The only exception to this is that they look to their scandinavian friends to provide the vocals on the album.

This time round, they have asked The Knife’s Karin Dreijer Andersson, Lykke Li and Robyn to help them on a few of their tracks. We know full well how that arrangement went with “What Else Is There” from The Understanding.

They are electronic maestros with a penchant for making lovely synths and pop tunes, and they are pretty unpredictable at times.
As according to Svein Berge, one half of the Norweigan electronic duo: “If Melody A.M. was a relaxed journey inwards on a Sunday afternoon and The Understanding was more uptempo, with more vocals and a hint of melodic catchiness, then the new album is a mix of the two.”

Now we are certainly getting closer to their intentional vibe, but they are also self-professed schizophrenic musicians who love to make both energetic and really quiet music, referring to themselves as “young in bodies and old in heart”.

Their latest offering definitely mixes it up for all their fans out there but is still entirely easy on the ears for the first time listener.
From their cheerful, buzzing track “Happy Up Here”, to disco infused dance tracks like “The Girl And The Robot” and progressive hooks on “Tricky Tricky”, their tempos really lead us on a wonderful journey.

There are many more different sounds on this album, from trip-hop to house-like tracks but we believe this album will reverberate through the toughest of critics and be on many playlists to come.

Junior has incredible depth and will be an album to be remembered in 09′, but it seems its not over for Royksopp this year, with a more quiet and introverted Senior due out late 2009.

We didn’t mind waiting 4 years for each album from the duo, but 2 offerings from them in 09′ makes whatever crisis we are in alot more bearable.

RATING: 8/10

MP3 ROYKSOPP – HAPPY UP HERE

MP3 ROYKSOPP – TRICKY TRICKY (FT. KARIN DREIJER ANDERSSON)

KARIN DREIJER ANDERSSON = THE KNIFE/FEVER RAY

Watch the quirky video of just the Marching Band version of Royksopp’s track “Happy Up Here”.

RELATED POSTS:

1. HAPPY UP HERE REMIXES + TRACKLIST OF JUNIOR
2. FEVER RAY